The Challenge
by Hello Sunshine
Summary: If she was Lily Evans, which she was, and there was one thing that Lily Evans was, it was determined. And she was determined to bring Potter and his band of flaming merry men down to the ground in a show of the most Marauder worthy talent.
1. September

Alright, for this story I am going on my assumption that the students who were to be the future Heads of their Houses in their seventh year were informed of this during their sixth year; so that they could prove themselves or something. I realize that this isn't the way it is done in the books, but for arguments sake, it is the way I am writing it. Therefore, both Lily and James, starting their sixth year were informed that they are in the running to be Head Girl and Boy in their next year. Chaos ensues.

I don't own the characters. As much as I wish I did. I am not rich enough to buy them, nor will I ever be. Such is the life of a suffering student. Enjoy regardless!

September 3, 1975

Lily Evans was mad. No, she was furious. She was consumed by an entirely unhealthy rage that she had not experienced since Petunia had pulled the arms and legs off of her favorite teddy when she was five (jealous crow that she was). It was really just ghastly some of the things that Dumbledore did.

_Just ghastly_.

She knew that she was the expected choice as Head Girl, she had therefore, not been surprised when Dumbledore had arrived during the summer to inform herself and her parents of the coming honor. But for him to pick that conniving, pranking, idiotic, egotistical _prat_….Well it was beyond her.

She glared at him from across the warmly lit common room, as if expecting his head to burst into flames on the spot. How _he _had even been considered for Head Boy was beyond her, but she was going to figure out how he did it, even if it killed her (meaning even if she had to force herself to be nice).

She peered into the closest mirror to her left and smoothed her shoulder length, curly red hair and cleaned her teeth in a quick run over with her tongue. Satisfied with her appearance she smoothed her school skirts and prayed to anyone who was listening that she had enough patience to manage civility with the boy wonder of Gryffindor. If niceties were going to get her her answers, then she would force herself to remain pleasant. If she was Lily Evans (which she most certainly was) and if Lily Evans was anything; it was determined.

With a deep breath she walked over to the fire and settled herself gingerly, if not a little awkwardly beside James Potter on the Gryffindor couch. Silence fell around her as she plastered a smile on her face. Remus Lupin stared in bemused wonderment out of the corner of his eye while Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, both notoriously known for

their lack of tact, gaped at her in pure bewilderment. Only James remained stoic, his face lined with an easy going smile and his eyes concentrating firmly on the fire in front of him.

"Hello Remus. Peter. Pot-…James. Black" She gave Remus and Peter slight nods and daren't glance at Sirius. Her bright eyes however remained on James. Remus murmured out a quiet hello and Peter squeaked something nonsensical. Sirius grinned a grin of pure insanity, baring his teeth and James simply nodded his head absently in her direction.

"Wotcher Flower!" Sirius barked out from the floor, lying on Remus' feet. How this lot had ever become friends was beyond her, but that was not what she was particularly concerned with at this point.

"So James, I've been thinking-" the four troublemakers were strangely silent. "…I've been thinking that perhaps we should go over a few rules and regulations that we really want to push this year. You know, as possible Heads of our house we should be very honored to be considered for such an important recognition. I know that when Dumbledore informed my parents and I, he commended me on my excellent grades and my acute attention to my prefect duties." James stared intensely into the fire but she could see confusion written in the others' eyes. Time to go in for the kill. She leaned forward as casually as possible and tilted her head to the side, eyes widening in curiosity.

"…What did he say to you when he informed you and your parents that you were in the running for Head Boy James?" Perhaps it was the way she drawled his name at the end of her sentence in a Malfoy worthy way that would make Lucius proud. Or perhaps it was the way the smile she had plastered on her face was a little too bright, a little too curious. But when James turned to face her she saw something in his eyes that she was not used to seeing from the doe eyed boy that had shadowed her every move for years. Pure, unrestrained, _amusement_. James Potter often looked at her with devotion, obsession, reverence, lust and sometimes, admiration. Never with amusement. Lily Evans was never what the Marauders found amusing. Never. However as James used the height advantage to look down on her, she finally saw what every other student in Hogwarts feared; James Potter when he was about to swoop down and pounce on an unsuspecting student and wreak havoc of unimaginable proportions.

Realizing that she had been found out, she felt an intense blush spread from her chest up her neck and to her face and ears. James lowered himself to her eye level and grinned in a slightly maniacal way. He abruptly leaned back and put his arms behind his head.

"He commended me on my wholesome attitude, my stupendous Quidditch skills, my extraordinary talent in all things I attempt, my friendly, becoming mannerisms, my unrestrained contempt for all things Dark, Slytherin and most importantly, Snivelly-ish; my rugged good looks and my unmatched talent at getting any girl I want. At any time." He finished in a low, husky voice and a smirk in her direction, accompanied by a flourish of his hands. Sirius had cupped his hands around his mouth (as if he wasn't loud enough already) and was shouting "Potter for King" while Peter pretend swooned on the floor next to him. Only Remus looked slightly apologetic for his friends' actions; however even as he shook his head she could see the tell-tale smirk around his lips as well.

Thoroughly put out and more then a little enraged (she never had liked being laughed at), she jumped out of her seat and mustered the most venomous glare possible in his direction. He smirked at her again and she felt herself flush in anger.

"Fine, just because you think your all high and mighty and the king of all Hogwarts doesn't mean that I don't think that Dumbledore made the right choice! And if you think for one minute that because you might be Head Boy, you and your little friends can get away with your troublemaking, you can think again Potter! In case you've forgotten, I am also being considered as Head of this house, and I plan on making sure you do not receive that position!" By this point, her infuriation had yet to make any of the boys quiver. Instead Sirius and Peter were screeching on the ground (well Sirius was howling really) and Remus was doing his best to hide his chortles from the arm chair. Only James sat still, with that smirk plastered across his face. Oh, what she wouldn't give to slap that smirk right off….

"You may not tell me right now Potter, or tomorrow, or the next day, but I _will_ find out how _you_ of all people got considered as Head Boy and I _will_ inform Dumbledore why you do not make a good choice. You have my word on THAT!" With that she turned on her heel and marched purposefully towards her dormitory, making the second and first year spectators scatter in fear. She froze in absolute fury when she heard his voice call out after her.

"I expect you to take that challenge very seriously." She turned barely to glare at him through a curtain of hair and let out a muffled scream of frustration. If Potter thought that she was joking, he had another thing coming to him. Lily Evans _never_ took her challenges lightly. _Never_.

"I should expect that you should be ready to go to Dumbledore with such an…accusation, after exams. And if you can convince the blind old bat that he made the wrong decision and he takes away my title and all other benefits that come with it, I will confess to every prank and stunt that I have pulled over my many years of terrorizing Hogwarts." Sirius had stopped howling by this point and looked thoroughly enraged at this suggestion.

"Prongs! Are you mad?! They'll take away our chance at graduating and make us become Flich's cronies for the rest of our lives, never to perform magic ever again!!" James waved his hand in Sirius' direction and she noticed that even Remus looked distinctly uncomfortable with this proposition. She narrowed her eyes and watched them closely.

"You're on Potter." And she turned to march upstairs but was once again stopped by his drawling voice behind her.

"And if you can't come up with a suitable list, you will have to go out with me. As in on a date. A real one" She said nothing but stood frozen at the bottom of the stairs. "Good night Lilykins." His low voice drew out every syllable of his sentence and she huffed before storming up the staircase. She had 10 months to figure this out, and damn it all if she wasn't going to.

If she was Lily Evans (which she was) and there was one thing that Lily Evans was, it was determined.

And she was determined to bring Potter and his band of flaming merry men down to the ground in a show of the most Marauder worthy talent.

James Potter was a dead man.


	2. October

A/N: Yes….I finally got the second chapter for this story up….I have a few more chapters written but I seem to have lost my focus for this story. I hope that through your reviews, I can figure out the last few chapters…Fingers crossed!

**October 15, 1976**

The Marauders only separated every once in a blue moon. At least, that's what was being said around the corridors. The only time they had been completely at odds with each other was an incident in their fifth year that had left the entire school confused and paranoid that a gargantuan prank was on its way. However, no prank had come from it and the boys had somehow made nice. The incident was not talked about again.

Lily Evans however watched their patterns (after all she had gone to school with them for 6 years now, she did know some things about them!). She prided herself on knowing where each Marauder went to have some time alone.

Peter often snuck down to the kitchens and came back happier and full of fudge and cupcakes. Sirius would go to the Astronomy tower and sit on the roof where even the students coming in for a mid afternoon snog couldn't see him. James would go down to the Quidditch arena and sit in the stands, staring (usually broodingly) over the pitch. And Remus, well, he had been the easiest to find really. The lean, amber- eyed boy was much more often then not found in the library.

So, even though the weather was simply divine, with the sun shining and the leaves falling and not a breeze or cloud in sight, she found herself walking down to the library to find Remus and question him thoroughly. McGonagall had not answered her questions on why Dumbledore had made James Head Boy and had fixed her with such a disapproving stare that Lily had remained red in the face for weeks. Therefore, she had resorted to cornering each of James's acquaintances about James and his attitude. Unfortunately, they had been all more then happy to explain why James was such a great guy. Since this did not help her in any way, she ignored it (also, she knew they were just brainwashed fools, James was most definitely not any of the nice things they said of him!). His Quidditch team had not helped her, the dueling club had not helped her, heck, the other _prefects _had nothing mean to say about him! So she decided it was time to dig a little deeper; hence the reason why she found herself in the library on such a divine day.

Remus Lupin was found on the left side of the library. Hidden by the farthest bookshelf and reading a rather large tome named "The Benefits of Transfiguring oneself into Fruit". Lily seriously doubted that there were any benefits, but seeing as how Remus was reading such a large book on it, she figured there must be some. She gently tip toed behind the quiet Marauder and hesitated the briefest of seconds. This may not have been the best idea she had had all year, granted. Just as she was about to turn away Remus addressed her.

"Please, sit Lily. I promise I won't bite." She jumped at his words and in shock that he had heard her and watched the ironic smile twist around his lips as he lowered his book to look at her. This was the problem with Remus. He was guarded. No one ever caught him by surprise; ever. And he was always smiling in a bitter, ironic way that made you think that you were missing out on some sort of sick joke. Lily plastered on a smile and sank down into the chair across from him.

"Hullo Remus. Fancy meeting you here hm?" Remus tilted his head to the side in an animalistic fashion and contemplated the girl in front of him. He turned to look out the window to his left.

"It's a beautiful day outside Lily. Why ever are you in this musty old place?" He looked back at her with dancing eyes and she knew that he knew _exactly_ why she was in there. Unwillingly, she flushed and Remus chuckled. There was no malice behind his laughter however and Lily found herself smiling back. Remus stretched his arms over his head and she heard his back pop in several different places. She grimaced at the noise and Remus shrugged sheepishly.

"Sorry about that. This time of the month makes my bones stiff and…well... What can I do for you Lily?" She took a deep breath and took this subject lightly. Remus was a good friend and she didn't want to meet another disapproving glance.

"If you don't mind me asking Remus…I mean, if it isn't too much trouble of course… I don't mean anything by it obviously, just for curiosity's sake…Why are you and James friends? I mean, it seems as if you have nothing in common with him. He and Sirius I can understand, but you always seemed too…gentle for their kind of activity." There it was again, that ironic smile. She hoped she hadn't overstepped any boundaries with the boy, and was relieved to see him lean back in contemplation.

"I suppose that is a fair question" he murmured softly whilst staring out the window and onto the grounds below them. "James is…I am…" he sighed as his words seemed to escape him and leant forward so suddenly that Lily backed away, startled. She had the impression that whatever the boy was about to say was very important, so she listened as carefully as she possibly could.

"There are many things about myself that, while I do not like them, I have come to grudgingly accept. I do not fancy myself anything other then what I truly am, at the base of myself. I am ugly and devastatingly terrifying and…I am not gentle, in any way of the word. I am not what everyone truly sees me as. Do you understand?" He searched her eyes for something, his gaze a little too hard and a little too probing. She nodded furiously, although she really had no idea what he was talking about. Remus nodded back slowly and leant away from her, turning out the window again.

"James…James knows this. He has seen me at that very…primal moment that I try desperately to hide. And James does not fancy me anything other then what I am. He knows, and he has a certain amount of both respect and fear for that. But out of all of them, James was the first to accept it. Accept me." He amended his speech and looked back at Lily to see if she was following. Seeing that she was, he continued.

"The day after they confronted me on my…other side, I was terrified. As a child I had always been lectured to hide my…faults, away where no one could see them. I was informed that should any one discover I was not as…genteel, as they supposed, they would shun me. I was worried then, obviously, when they confronted me. And although they assured me that it was fine, I could see the fear in their eyes and in their words. At breakfast the next morning, I came down last and sat in our usual spot where an awkward silence passed between us, no one sure what to say. And James…" here his speech was punctuated by quiet laughter,

"James looked me straight in the eyes and asked me if I preferred sausage or ham. After I told him that it didn't matter, as they were from the same animal, he looked so put out. And he said 'Bugger, you'd think they'd give meat lovers a little more selection, wouldn't they?' And he spent the rest of breakfast coming up with various, and quite disgusting, types of meat to be served. Most of them involved Mrs. Norris, the mice that lived in our room at the time and Severus (although he quickly decided that not even Fang would eat the git). It was thoroughly ghastly to listen to, and afterwards I went through a vegetarian phase but he showed pure acceptance to something he didn't quite understand. That is the kind of friend James is. It doesn't matter what or who you are, he will take you as you come and never show a hint of regret at what he has gotten himself into. James Potter is as loyal as they come, and where I am from, Lily, loyalty is hard to come by."

Lily blinked when Remus was finally finished. She thought she finally understood what Remus was trying to tell her. She just couldn't believe that James had been the first one to extend his loyalties to Remus. That was certainly…civil of him. She smiled gently at Remus and patted his hands softly.

"Oh Remus…Thank you for telling me that story. It makes me happy to know that you trusted me with this information, that you consider me a good enough friend." Remus gave her a small smile. "That was such a touching story…Though…Are you sure it wasn't Black that said and did all those things you are talking about? Potter certainly couldn't manage that amount of civility if his life depended on it the egotistical, self absorbed, infuriating…" she continued in a rant of unimaginable proportions and Remus was forced to hide his laughter behind his giant book, finally saved when, (speak of the devil) James Potter poked his head around a book shelf.

"Oi! Moony! That's where you've been hiding! Com'on, Me, Sirius and Pete are planning a mini Quidditch game! I promise you won't have to play on Pete's team this time..." He came up to their table as Remus stood and smiled down at Lily apologetically. "Oh Hullo Lily-Flower. How goes it?" She rolled her eyes at him, and remained stubbornly silent.

"Good Bye Lily" Remus waved slightly and began walking out of the library with the sauntering James who threw an affectionate arm over the smaller boys' shoulders, laughing. Lily watched them go curiously, but her anger towards the bespectacled boy ebbed only slightly watching them walk away.

'Well, I never would have expected it, but just look at the way he's so casual with Remus. You'd think he'd be uncomfortable, Remus being a poof and all. Shame, those Ravenclaw girls will be _so_ devastated when they hear the news….' Lily shrugged and turned to Remus' forgotten tome, concocting new ways to get the dirty news on James Potter.


End file.
